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Tanzania Volunteer sets up Charity

Volunteers often return from their projects overseas inspired to do more. Many stay in touch with their placements and host families, some raise money to make donations of books or toys and some volunteers even start planning their return trip.

However, not many volunteers set up a charity on their return home. Seventeen year old Jeremy Ousey was so affected by what he saw in Tanzania that he did just that. Now Jeremy is working hard to promote his charity, Project Huruma.

Jeremy spent one month in Tanzania on a Medicine placement and found the experience eye-opening: "Having done work-experience in UK hospitals to then work in a Tanzanian hospital was an unfathomable jump. I went from barely being allowed to speak to patients to being required to help deliver babies because the hospital wards were short of staff".

But what most surprised him was the sheer lack of resources and equipment available to staff in the hospital. From beds and blood pressure machines to stethoscopes and rubber gloves, Jeremy found the lack of basic resources seriously compromised the recovery of the patients. Out of this need, Project Huruma was born.

Still in its infancy, the charity is small, but hopes to achieve great things. Jeremy is hoping to raise £20,000 to provide tangible equipment to pre-existing institutions in Dar es Salaam. The current total is in excess of an impressive £1500 but there's still a long way to go to reach the target before Jeremy heads back out to Dar es Salmaan on his gap year later in the year.

Jeremy is keen to assure those donating that their money will go directly towards buying equipment for hospitals and orphanages and not on administration costs or monetary donations.